Voting opens in 2006 Bird of the Year
18 September 2006 - Wellington
Forest & Bird media release for immediate use
And they’re off! Voting opens in Forest & Bird’s 2006 Bird of the Year poll
The
plucky little black robin or the magnificent royal
albatross? The cheeky kea or the iconic kakapo? Or perhaps
our national bird, the kiwi?
Just one of New Zealand’s many fascinating native birds will be chosen as Forest & Bird’s 2006 Bird of the Year – with so many wonderful contenders, we’re expecting a tight race.
Advocacy Manager Kevin Hackwell, who is leading Forest & Bird’s Restoring the Dawn Chorus campaign, says picking just one favourite New Zealand bird is a tough call.
“New Zealand has so many wonderful native birds that are all unique and special in their own way. We are lucky that we have so many worthy contenders to choose from,” he says.
Some of our rarest birds like the kakapo, the little spotted kiwi and the takahe are really precious to New Zealanders because we know how few of them are left, but we also enjoy the antics of many of the birds that we can see in everyday life, like last year’s inaugural winner, the tui, Kevin Hackwell says.
“I’d really like to see my favourite, the kokako, come in first place this year. It has a fabulous song like nothing else I have ever heard, and it is a stunning looking bird. Thirty years ago it was at the edge of extinction as conservationists fought to save the last of its habitat – now its numbers are steadily growing.”
Our VIP voters also found picking their favourites a difficult task – their choices cover a huge variety of New Zealand’s bird species.
Prime Minister
Helen Clark:
“Sirocco, the kakapo. It was special and
moving to see Sirocco - one of only 86 of the species - in
its natural habitat on Ulva Island."
Governor-General
Anand Satyanand:
“The weka – because it has
personality and attitude,” while his wife Susan Satyanand
chose: “The kokako – because it is a beautiful bird with
a wonderful song.”
Greens co-leader Jeanette
Fitzsimons:
“The kereru, because they are magnificent
birds who come quite close and show off their lovely
colours, and because they are so important in spreading
large seeds of native trees.”
National leader Don
Brash:
“The kotuku (white heron), because it is such an
incredibly graceful and beautiful bird, and because it was
the symbol of the 1990 sesquicentennial of the Treaty of
Waitangi. As Reserve Bank Governor, I also put the kotuku
on the $2 coin.”
ACT leader Rodney Hide:
“The tui,
because it is such a beautiful bird, and
elegant.”
Fashion designer Caroline Church:
“The
ruru/morepork. We're lucky enough to have one living in our
front garden and I just love listening to it at night, the
most soothing sound when you're drifting off to sleep. Such
a crazy little clown too chasing moths round the outside
light.”
Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples:
“Te
kahu [New Zealand harrier hawk] because it has been my
spirit bird ever since I was a kid. Everywhere I go, hawks
go – they follow me around.”
TVNZ presenter Mark
Sainsbury:
“The tui, because I have one in my garden
that comes and chirps outside my window.”
Conservation
Minister Chris Carter:
“The kakapo - more like a
squirrel than a bird! Its survival is a tribute to DOC
staff, conservationists and scientists who have dedicated so
much time to increasing its numbers.”
Celebrity chef
Lois Daish:
“The fantail, simply because this is the
native bird that I see most often, and right outside our
dining room window in Kilbirnie. When a pair of them visit
the large pink manuka in our neighbours’ garden it is
impossible to do anything except stop and watch them.
Fantails are also the first native bird that I was aware of
as a child … whenever we visited out grandparents in
Taranaki and went for an excursion up the mountain, they
were everywhere in the bush.”
“The Bug Man” Ruud
Kleinpaste:
“My pick is the ‘humble’ kiwi. This
bird is the reason I ended up in New Zealand, almost 30
years ago. Not many people know that ornithology is my very
first passion (and that entomology is a later hobby!) The
kiwi will always stand for New Zealand's remarkable
geological and evolutionary history, and having worked with
them for a while, I can tell you that they ain't ‘dumb and
blind’ and certainly not ‘humble’ either! I just love
them to bits.”
Cook and food writer Annabel
Langbein:
“The kingfisher. Such a beautiful,
glistening, auspicious bird. I feel very lucky as have a
kingfisher in my inner city garden. He ( I think its a he!)
has hung out here for years – it feels like he is a
sentinel of good will in our garden.”
Voting in 2006
Bird of the Year opens today and closes on October 14.
Members of the public are invited to cast their vote online
at Forest & Bird’s website:
www.forestandbird.org.nz
ENDS